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The research was commissioned by the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies and carried out by the universities of Sheffield and Brighton.

Richard Garside, director of the centre, said: ‘We are taught that life is what you make it, that the able will succeed regardless of background. But the site shows that where you are born and where you grow up has a huge influence on where you end up.’

Commenting on the results, Professor Danny Dorling of Sheffield University said: ‘There are huge inequalities between young people’s life chances that depend on where they are born, and these inequalities are increasing.’

Does your postcode dictate your success in life?

Kensington in west London came top in
the table of 18-year-olds most likely to go to a Russell Group
university, with 30 per cent ending up in one of the elite
institutions.

At the other end of the scale, in John Prescott’s former constituency of Hull East only 0.05 per cent of 18-year-olds manage a place at the top end of academic life.

The chances of the best education are similarly slim in several areas of Liverpool, Birmingham and Sheffield. The website allows comparisons to be made between areas around the country, which throws up some interesting results.

Those living in affluent areas such as Kensington (pictured) are far more likely to be employed or in university at 18 than those just a few miles away in areas of east London like Bethnal Green

For example young people in the Yorkshire spa town of Harrogate are seven times more likely to go to an elite university than their counterparts in Bradford, only 20 miles away.

Annika Small, chief executive of the Nominet Trust, which sponsored the website, said: ‘It proves what we’ve known for a long time – the postcode lottery is not a myth but in fact a harsh and very bleak reality for young people.

‘We would urge policy-makers, youth workers, and other professionals working with young people to take note of the fact that our current system is failing today’s youth, and that a fresh approach is required.’